diff --git a/except.hpp b/except.hpp
index 8cb96ab0..3bd10586 100644
--- a/except.hpp
+++ b/except.hpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ namespace cruft {
     class error {
     public:
         virtual ~error () = default;
-        virtual std::ostream& describe (std::ostream&) const noexcept = 0;
+        virtual std::ostream& describe (std::ostream&) const = 0;
     };
 
 
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ namespace cruft {
         { ; }
 
         std::ostream&
-        describe (std::ostream &os) const noexcept override
+        describe (std::ostream &os) const override
         {
             return os << m_message;
         }